A transportation network for vehicle systems can include several interconnected main routes on which separate vehicles travel between locations to deliver or receive payloads. For example, a transportation network may be formed from interconnected railroad tracks with rail vehicles traveling along the tracks. The vehicles may travel according to schedules that dictate where and when the vehicles are to travel within the transportation network. The schedules may be coordinated with each other to arrange for certain vehicles to arrive at various locations in the transportation network at desired times and/or in a desired order.
The transportation network may include a vehicle yard or route hub, such as a rail yard or a distribution warehouse that includes a relatively dense grouping of routes or locations where several vehicles can congregate, deliver payloads, receive new payloads, perform maintenance, refuel, or the like. While in the vehicle yard, vehicles are assigned or paired with payloads based on power or ability of the vehicle to pull to carry the payload regardless on the overall energy or emission efficiency of available vehicles or the availability of vehicles in other vehicle yards within the transportation network.